Crystals

The Quartz beads in the picture (left) were discovered on a Peruvian mummy. The beads are so small that it is that it is unknown by what method they could have been fashioned. A remarkable achievement.

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Crystals and the Megaliths.

The preference for quartz stones in megalithic structures - It seems that quartzite stone was the preference of the megalithic builders. The extra effort involved in transporting particular stone from further distances, in preference to using more abundant and locally available stone, suggests that stones were selected for specific properties. The consistent use of crystalline stone, which is far more challenging to work with, in ancient constructions such as at Stonehenge and the Granite-lined chambers and passages of pyramids, tombs and temples around the world support this idea.

The Specific Selection of Stone types.

While it is apparent that the megalithic builders showed a preference for certain stone types, the reason for this has yet to be explained satisfactorily. The extra distance and effort required to employ specific stones in ancient structures offers us with a clue as to the possible aspirations of the builders.

As noted above, the pyramid builders at Giza went to great lengths to include granite in their sacred buildings, transporting it hundreds of miles in preference to the more readily available limestone. At Giza, we can see that granite was used for the lower levels of casing blocks on both Menkaure and Khafre's pyramids, whilst in the Great pyramid of Khufu, it is found only on internal features (plugs, girdle stones, antechamber portal stones, kings chamber). The selection of features for which granite was chosen reveals something interesting: namely, that it was not just used structurally. So, at the same time as recognising that granite is a stronger stone, there are other reasons why granite was selected for use in sacred structures. This supposition is supported by evidence from other megalithic structures, for example:

At Newgrange in Ireland or example, we are told that while the mound was built from 280,000 tons of river-rolled stones, but that the builders also chose to travel 50 miles to the coast to collect the white granite stones that are were used to make up the face of the mound. (Guide)

The specific use of white quartz is repeated at several other megalithic sites such as :

The two 15-ton portal-stones at Castelruddery, also in Ireland.

Although the area surrounding Stonehenge is littered with perfectly suitable sarsen stones, the builders chose to use over 80 Bluestones instead, requiring them to transport them over 200 miles from the Prescilly mountains in Wales. It is perhaps relevant then that a piece of bluestone was found in almost every one of the 59 Y and Z holes (8). At Stonehenge, the specific selection of stones was continued to the slaughter stone which, while all the other stones were either sarsen or bluestone, it alone is made of a sandstone laden with Mica (8).

Quartz = Crystal.

The idea that quartz had a significance beyond its strength alone is reinforced by the several findings of crystals in funerary remains (dating back to Palaeolithic times). It is also common to find 'significant' stones at the European megaliths either made entirely of granite or having quartz seams in them, for example:

Boscawen-Un, in England is a granite circle of 19 stones, and was suggested by W. Stuckley as having been one of the first circles in UK. (The 19 stones being suggestive of the 18.6yr lunar cycle). Although the whole circle is composed of granite stones, there is a single white quartz stone at the S/SW of side the circle (aligning the centre with the May-day sunrise).

At Balquhain stone circle (and Bannau Sir Gaer), in Scotland the builders chose white granite for the outlying stones.

At Glenquickan, also in Scotland, a white granite obelisk was placed in the centre of the circle.

And at the Hurlers triple circle, the centre of the circle was coated with a bed of quartz crystals.

The Excavation of the Aztec 'Templo Mayor' site in Mexico, produced a funerary casket, from the inner-most layers of the pyramid, beneath a Chac-mool statue, 'thought to represent the god Quetzalcoatl'. Within the casket were found several crystal artefacts which included; Several crystal cylinders, thought to represent the 'feathered tail of Quetzalcoatl'. Crystal Lip-plugs, crystal ear-spools and a row of thirteen crystal beads 'thought to have been part of a necklace'. (Ref: 1).

All of the above examples highlight the fact that granite (or perhaps crystal), was considered to have special qualities other than just strength. Records show several examples of crystals and quartz being placed alongside funerary remains (a feature that can be traced back to Palaeolithic times), a fact that raises the question of whether or not the megalithic builders were were aware of the other physical properties of crystal.

The qualities of crystal.

It is a curious fact that when a crystal is placed under pressure it produces electricity. Experiments by Marcel Vogel, a research chemist for IBM over 27 years, suggest that water can act as an electrolyte and pick up charge from a crystal with which it comes into contact. Measurements by spectrophotometer, an instrument for comparing light radiation, show changes in the 'atomic footprint' of water before and after exposure in this way. Paul Devereaux began the 'Dragon project' in order to research this particular aspect of the megaliths.

There is a clear and definite association between megaliths (which show a preference for quartz granite), and underground water-sources.

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The Crystal skulls.

- There are a number of known crystal skulls which have been carved from solid rock-crystal.

(From left to bottom right : Mitchell-Hedges, 'Cursed' Smithsonian, Max, and the British Museum)

Note - The Mitchell-Hedges skull, has a unique separate jaw-bone made from the same lump of crystal.

(From left to right: British Museum, Max, Monte-Alban Goblet, Smithsonian, Modern German, British museum 'tiny', 'Sha Na Ra'.)

- The earliest known example of a crystal skull comes from the 20th century, which has created much speculation and controversy over their origin and authenticity.

Recommended reading - 'The mystery of the crystal skulls' (1) - (see references below).

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The Physical properties of crystals.

Electrical properties - Crystals act as transducers, transforming and transmuting energy from one form to another. Quartz crystals in particular behave as capacitors, storing energy in a form which can later be discharged. Some also function as multi-wave oscillators, capable of dealing with a wide range of frequencies.

When pressure is applied to a crystal it produces electricity. Many modern lighters use this property in their 'sparkers'

Crystals and water - Experiments by Marcel Vogel, a research chemist for IBM over 27 years, suggest that water, as long as it is not too pure, can act as an electrolyte and pick up charge from a crystal with which it comes into contact. Measurements by spectrophotometer, an instrument for comparing light radiation, show changes in the 'atomic footprint' of water before and after exposure in this way.

'The first experiments on manufacturing or growing synthetic quartz began in 1851, but it was not until the latter part of the 20th century that the process was sufficiently perfected for the manufactured quartz to be of practicable use to the electronics industry' (Ref: 1)

The 'Hope Diamond' (Diamond of Disaster) - Currently owned by the Smithsonian Institute, Washington. A catalogue of disasters befell the owners of this notorious diamond. It was eventually lent to the De Beers research laboratory in Johannesburg in 1965, where scientists discovered that the diamond's rare deep-blue colour was caused by the replacement of a few of the carbon atoms at crucial points in the crystal lattice by atoms of Boron. The result of this unusual occlusion is that the diamond was acting as a powerful Semi-Conductor of electricity (only conducting under certain conditions by stimuli involving heat, light, pressure, or other electromagnetic energies). (Ref: The Secret life of Inanimate Objects).

Quartz crystals vibrate at the same frequency as the human hypothalamus.

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Gallery of Crystal Artefacts:

Article: The crystal ‘lens’ from Nineveh (Kuyunjik, Iraq)

In 1853, Sir David Brewster (1781-1868) presented a lens to the British Association for the Advancement of Science that had been found in excavations by Austen Henry Layard (1817-1894) at Nineveh (Kuyunjik, Iraq). It had been found in deposits dated around 600 BC and although its provenance was not in question, doubts were raised about its function. Whilst it clearly works as a lens, it was thought to have been used as a decoration in a piece of jewellery.

With this object, we can see how contemporary perceptions of form and function may not always be correct. The “obvious” interpretation of a ground oval crystal with a biconvex cross-section as an optical lens is not a guide to its original function. What would be the context for such a piece in the ancient Near East? Had it been part of a piece of optical equipment, there ought to be other evidence for such equipment. If, say, it were part of an astronomical telescope, then elements of the telescopes and their mountings ought to be found. If part of a pair of spectacles, then some sort of frame should be found from time to time.

In relation to the idea that the lens may have originally been part of a telescope, it is interesting to note that there is evidence from the Middle-east that supports the idea of telescopes being used in antiquity. Most revealing of all are the thousands of clay tablets recovered from Nineveh, which record the observations of objects only visible with the use of optical assistance. The following text adequately describes this fact:

The ancients apparently used the telescope long before Pythagoras’s time. Babylonian astronomers, like the one illustrated on the ancient seal above, catalogued the non-planetary fixed stars, observed and recorded their observations on occultation's of the planets by the sun and moon, and determined correctly within a small fraction the length of the synodic revolution of the moon. They also knew the true length of the solar year was 365 days and a quarter. In fact, the exact length of the ancient Babylonian year has been determined to have been 365 days, 6 hours, and 11 minutes, which varies less than two minutes from the sidereal year. They also ascribed eclipses of the sun to the interposition of the moon between the sun and the earth, and they apparently knew the arrangement of at least seven planets and spotted some of their moons—which certainly requires the use of a telescope.

Their long line of astronomical records on clay tablets stored in the British Museum, dating back to 747 B.C., indicate they observed some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. “There is said to be distinct evidence that they observed the four satellites of Jupiter, and strong reason to believe that they were acquainted likewise with the seven satellites of Saturn,” wrote the English Orientalist George Rawlinson, in the 1860’s. “It has generally been assumed that they were wholly ignorant of the telescope,” added this Camden professor of ancient history. “But if the satellites of Saturn are really mentioned, as it is thought that they are, upon some of the tablets, it will follow—strange as it may seem to us—that the Babylonians probably possessed optical instruments of the nature of telescopes, since it is impossible, even in the clear vapourless sky of Chaldea [ancient Babylonia], to discern the faint moons of that distant planet without lenses.”

Ref: http://ancientskyscraper.com/224801.html

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The 'Rough Guide' to ancient sites from around the world.

Index of Ancient and Sacred sites

References:

1). C. Morton and C. L. Thomas. The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls. 1997. Thornson's.

2). Lost civilisations of the Ice-Age

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